COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The only person at Texas A&M with close to as much pressure as head coach Mike Sherman is Tim DeRuyter, the new defensive coordinator he pilfered from Air Force. He’s merely in charge of saving Sherman’s job.

I met him here yesterday, and he doesn’t look at it like that, but stats say otherwise. The Aggies have arguably the best quarterback in the league in Jerrod Johnson but their defense gave up 33.5 points and 426.3 yards a game, and topped 40 points in five games.

“I think professionally this place, especially for a defensive coach and the tradition they’ve had at Texas A&M, has always been a place in the back of my mind, ‘Man, could I ever work at a place like that?’” he said.

He’s changing from a 4-3 to a 3-4 and has the best pass rusher in the nation in Von Miller, who led college football with 17 sacks last year.